Superheater for steam-engines.



No. 738,618. I 7 PATENTED SEPT. 8, 190B.

R.. E. LAW. SUPERHEATER FOR STEAM ENGINES. APPLIOATION'I'ILED MAR. 20, 1903. N0 MODEL. 7 2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

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N.o.733,:6 1:8 Q PATENTED SEPT. 8,1903.-

R. E. LAW.

SUPERHEATER FOR STEAM ENGINES.

- APPLICATION-FILED MAR. 20; 1903. no mm. V v 2 mama-$351112.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 8, I903.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT ELMERLAW, or sore, onro.

SUPERHEATER FOR'STEAM-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION-forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,618, dated September 8, 1903.

Application filed March 20, 1903. Serial No. 148,'744. (No model.)

I To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT ELMER LAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scio, in the county of Harrison and State of Ohio,

have invented a new and useful Superheater for Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification. h

This invention relates to certain improvements in steam-engines, and particularly to steam-engines of that class employed for traction purposes or for operating agricultural or other machinery where the engine is constantly in the open air and where lin cold weather considerable loss results from com densation of the steam in its passage from the boiler to the cylinder or'cylinders of. the engine.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a means for preventing und-ue condensation of the steam and the loss of power due to cooling of the steam and its consequent reduction in pressure while passing from the boiler to the engine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simpleand economical device whereby loss from condensation due to the cooling of the steam-supply pipe or the cylinder may be prevented without any considerable loss of energy of'the exhaust-steam at the stack when'the exhaust is usedfor the purpose of .creating or augmenting the draft.

With these and other. objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts 'hereinafterdescribed,illustrated in the accompanying dra wings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figured is a longitudinal sectional" elevation of a portion of a steam-engine, in this case an ordinary form of traction-engine, illustrating the application of my invention thereto. Fig. 2

is a transverse sectional elevation on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a similar view through the steam-chest and cylinder of the engine, showing the steam-jacket surrounding the two.

sheet serving to separate the boiler proper from the smoke-box 3. From the upper end of' the smoke-box leads a stack 4, which may be of any ordinary construction. In engines of this general class the cylinder or cylinders are secured to the boiler or its supportingframe generally at a point adjacent to the forward end of the boiler, and in the drawings 5 indicates a cylinder forming a part of a steam-engine to which power is supplied from.

the boiler, said cylinder being provided with a suitable piston and connected in the usual manner to a cranked shaft from which power may be transmitted for any purpose, and in this connection it is to be observed that the particular form of boiler'or engine forms no part of the presentinvention, as the invention isequally applicable to locomotives or stationary engines, as well as to those employed for traction, hoisting, and other purposes.

The cylinder is provided with a plurality of peripherally-disposed lugs 7, to which is secured a jacket 8, or the jacket may form an integral part of the cylinder and cast in the usual manner by the introduction of suitable cores between the outer face of the cylinder and the inner wall of the jacket. To one side of the cylinder is bolted or otherwise secured a steam-chest 9, having a slide or. other form of valve 10, which receives motion in the usual manner from an operative part of the engine, and surrounding said steamchest is a jacket 11 in communication with the jacket surrounding the cylinder, and at one of the ends of the cylinder is an auxiliary head spaced from the cylinder-head and forming a space in communication with the cylinder-jacket. The spaces thus formed around the cylinder and its head and around the steam-chest are all in communication with each other, and at the steam-chest these spaces are placed in communication with the exhaust-port, controlled by the valve, so that led through the spaces around the steamchest and cylinder, maintaining the temperature of these portions of the engine when exposed to low temperature.

The main steam-supply pipe 15 has an inlet-opening at or near the upper end of the steam-dome 16 and is thence led forwardly through the upper portion of the boiler and extends through the flue-sheet into the smoke box, being thence extended upwardly and rearwardly to a valve 18 and valve-casing 19, in which is an ordinary form of throttle-valve, controlled by a governor 20. The steam thence passes directly to the chest, and its action is governed entirely by the slide-valve in the usual manner.

The live-steam pipe passes-through a cylindrical casing or tube 22, which forms the exhaust, and is connected at one end to the upper portion of the steam-chest, being in communication with the jacket surrounding the chest and being provided with suitable bolting-flanges, as indicated at 23, whereby it may be secured to the steam-chest jacket. The exhaust-pipe is of somewhat larger diameter than the live-steam pipe andfleads directly down through the shell of the boiler into the smoke-box, where it terminates in an upwardly-directed nozzle 24, located under the smoke-stack, so that the exhaust-steam may operate in the usual manner toaugment the draft of the boiler.

By placing the steam-exhaust pipe around the live-steam pipe the heat of the live steam is retained and all condensation and reduction in pressure due to exposure of the livesteam pipe to the open air is prevented. In cold weather the loss due to the cooling of the cylinder and steam-chest considerably reduces the power of the engine, the metal absorbing considerable heat from the steam at each stroke of the engine, and this being conducted by radiation to the air, so that loss of heat results at each stroke of the engine.

By surrounding both the steam-chest and the cylinder with a jacket for the passage of the exhaust-steam and by covering and'inclosin g the live-steam pipe from the point where it emerges from the smoke-box this loss and condensation is prevented, while no back pressure results and the value of the exhauststeam as a draft-producin g agent isn'ot materially affected.

Having thus described the invention, what I der and steam-chest of the engine, a port leading to the jacket, communication between the engine exhaust and the jacket being governed by the valve of said engine, an exhaust-pipe in communication with the jacket and leading through the shell of the boiler to the smoke-box, said steam-pipe communicating with the nozzle, and a live-steam pipe extending from the steam-space through the flue-sheet of the boiler into the smoke-box and thence passing through the exhaust-pipe to the steam-pipe of the engine, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a boiler having a forward smoke box and stack, of a steamengine supported by the boiler and including a cylinder, a steam-chest and valve, a cylinder-jacket formed integral with the cylinder, a steam-chest jacket integral in part with the steam-chest and cylinder, a removable jacket member forming one Wall of the steamc-hest, a live-steam pipe extending from the dome of the boiler through the forward flue-sheet and thence-through the smoke-box and to the steam-chest, ports controlled by the valve for placing the cylinder exhaust-port in comm unication with the jackets, and an exhaustpipe leading from the jackets to the smokebox, said exhaust-pipe surrounding the livesteam pipe and having a terminal upwardlydirectedfnozzle in alinement with the smokestack.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT ELMER LAW.

Witnesses: V

O. SCOTT, E. W. DAVIS. 

